Gorontalo–Mongondow languages explained

Gorontalo–Mongondow
Region:Gorontalo, parts of North Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi provinces, Indonesia
Familycolor:Austronesian
Fam2:Malayo-Polynesian
Fam3:Philippine
Fam4:Greater Central Philippine
Protoname:Proto-Gorontalo–Mongondow
Child1:Gorontalic
Child2:Mongondowic
Glotto:goro1257
Glottorefname:Gorontalo–Mongondow

The Gorontalo–Mongondow languages are a group of Austronesian languages spoken in northern Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Languages

The Gorontalo–Mongondow languages are divided into two branches:

Classification

Similarities between Mongondow and the languages of the Philippines were already recognized in the first half of the 20th century.[2] Noorduyn (1982) presented phonological and morphological evidence for a close connection between Gorontalo and Mongondow,[3] while the full extent of the subgroup including all other Gorontalic languages was established by Usup (1986). Blust (1991) has shown that the Gorontalo–Mongondow languages link up with many languages of the central and southern Philippines in the Greater Central Philippine subgroup.[4] The following table exemplifies the close relationship, listing Greater Central Philippine innovations which are found in Mongondow (representing the Gorontalo–Mongondow languages) and Tagalog (the northernmost member of the Greater Central Philippine subgroup):

MongondowTagalogMeaning
'quick'
'dark'
'blood'
'cough'
'nest'
'brook'
'water'

Reconstruction

Proto-Gorontalo–Mongondow
Familycolor:Austronesian
Ancestor:Proto-Austronesian
Ancestor3:Proto-Philippine
Target:Gorontalo–Mongondow languages

The lexicon and phonology of Proto-Gorontalo-Mongondow has been reconstructed by Usup (1986).[5] Proto-Gorontalo-Mongondow pronouns have been reconstructed by Lobel (2011).[6]

Sound changes

Initial sound changes from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian:[7]

Modern outcomes in Gorontalo-Mongondowic languages
GorontalicMongondowic
GorontaloBuolKaidipangSuwawaAtinggolaBolangoBintaunaMongondowPonosakan
  • ay > e
  • ay > oy
  • aw > o
  • aw > ow
  • iw > i
  • iw > uy
  • b / _*u > h
  • b / _*u > v
  • a / _# > o
  • n# > , lo, ngo[9]
  • n# > , n, ng[10]
  • n# >
  • o > u / _
  • a > o / *b_
  • a > o / _
  • a > e / _
  • mb, *nd > m, n
  • s > t
  • s > t
  • P[-voice] > P[+voice] / *N_
    1. V > wV
    1. V > wV
    1. i > yi
    1. i > yi
  • k > ʔ
  • r > l
  • r > h
  • n > l
  • s > d / *N_
  • s > j / *N_
  • g > k
  • b > v, *d > r

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Moseley, Christopher . Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages . Routledge . 2008 . 978-1-1357-9640-2.
  2. Book: Esser, S.J. . Atlas van Tropisch Nederland . Topografische Dienst . Blad 9a . 1938 . Batavia . Dutch . Atlas of Tropical Netherlands . Talen.
  3. Book: Noorduyn, J. . Papers from the Third International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, Vol. 2: Tracking the travellers . Australian National University . 1982 . Halim, A. . Pacific Linguistics, C-75 . Canberra . 241–261 . Sound Changes in the Gorontalo Language . 10.15144/PL-C75.241 . 1885/145067 . Carrington, L. . Wurm, S.A. . free . free.
  4. Blust . Robert . 1991 . The Greater Central Philippines Hypothesis. . Oceanic Linguistics . 30 . 2 . 73–129 . 10.2307/3623084 . 3623084.
  5. Usup . Hunggu Tadjuddin . Rekonstruksi Proto-Bahasa Gorontalo-Mongondow . 1986 . Doctoral . Universitas Indonesia . Indonesian . Proto-Gorontalo-Mongondow Language Reconstruction.
  6. Lobel . Jason . 2011 . Pronominal Number in Mongondow-Gorontalo . dead . Oceanic Linguistics . 50 . 2 . 543–550 . 10.1353/ol.2011.0029 . 41337067 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170820213423/https://muse.jhu.edu/article/464586/pdf . 2017-08-20. free .
  7. Sneddon . James N. . Usup . Hunggu Tadjuddin . 1986 . Shared sound changes in the Gorontalic language group: Implications for subgrouping . Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde . 142 . 4 . 407–26 . 27863783 . 10.1163/22134379-90003347 . free .
  8. Buol originally has the epenthetic vowel -o, but now often reverted by apocope.
  9. Modern reflexes are inconsistent, the most common is -∅, and the least common is -ngo.
  10. Modern reflexes are inconsistent, the most common is -n, and the least common is -ng.
  11. As in the orthography, pronounced the same as ŋ.
  12. Possibly except before -i-
  13. Except *i, see below.
  14. Non-phonemic word-initially. Did not happen after nasals.
  15. Did not happen after nasals.